By Jessica Walker

Segment 4

Jessica: Please give our members examples of the information that should be withheld from a dating profile or a social networking profile, information that a criminal could use against them.

Linda: When you are first meeting and getting to know someone online you want to share what you care about, and not much about who or where you are.

Maintain anonymity to protect your identity. Don’t include your full name, phone number, where you work, financial status, or detailed location information in your profile or during early communications with potential dates. Stop communicating with anyone who presses you for this type of information.

Use the e-mail system provided by the dating service rather than your own e-mail address to maintain your privacy.

Be smart about choosing profile pictures and learn how to share photos safely. Make sure your photos reflect what you want to say about yourself. Provocative pictures may attract the wrong people. Make sure that your images do not contain identifying information.

Set your search criteria to filter out anyone with behaviors you may not want to deal with, and check to see if a potential date has a good reputation among other daters on the service.

Be cautious about sharing emotional vulnerabilities. It is very easy for criminals to play to emotions to gain undeserved trust, or to tell a sad story to gain your sympathies. Use a friend as a sanity check – if the story sounds like a stretch to them it probably is.

Note any inconsistencies in what they say about themselves. Periodically reviewing exchanges you’ve had with a critical eye is healthy. This is a real advantage with the Internet, because it IS written down, not something fuzzy in your memory.

Jessica: Safer Dates recently partnered with your company ReputationShare and added a gauge to our member profiles that track online behaviors.  How can our members get the most out of this feature?

Linda: You deserve to experience the Web, and the people you meet through the Web, on your own terms. I was super pleased to learn how much Safer Dates is dedicated to providing as safe an environment as they can, AND how much they respect their users. ReputationShare does two key things for Safer Dates users.

First, it helps the service identify and manage rogue users because, like credit bureaus, ReputationShare literally shares people’s online reputations across participating sites.  If someone has been abusing other Dating sites or their members, Safer Dates can see that information even as the person is registering and take appropriate steps. That said, unlike credit bureaus, the ReputationShare service does not receive or store any information about who the user is. Consumers privacy is extremely important to us. Users stay entirely anonymous, but both positive and negative behaviors associated with their email alias are collected. Of course, we have advanced algorithms to identify email accounts being gamed. Learn more about ReputationShare on www.reputationshare.net.

Second, it gives users the ability to make more informed choices about who they choose to interact with.

Segment four question:  Name four things you should withhold from your dating profile. To submit your answer, click on the contact link found on the upper left side of the blog.

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Love Sex Lies and the Internet mouse “trap” is Safer Dates pick for an online dating guide because of it’s indepth yet light hearted look at a very serious subject.

Yvonne Rice eloquently explores the history of dating and offers a truthful look into the good and bad that has come from men and woman evolving in different social directions over the past couple decades.  The feelings and emotions of each era will jump off the pages and dislodge memories imbedded deep in the psyche.  Being from the “Generation Confused” myself, it really opened my eyes to what we’ve done and are doing to the men in our lives.

Yvonne inspires and motivates the full spectrum of daters from the novice, to the young single parent, to the middle aged divorcee just getting back into the dating scene.  She covers the technological advances and even offers expert detailed advice on how to set up a dating profile and how to effectively communicate with other online users to increase your success at meeting “The One.”   She even discusses the dangers that are associated with online dating and how to avoid becoming a victim, something we strongly advocate at SaferDates.com.

Once you’ve finished reading this book you will feel that you can tackle the online world with confidence, a trait that can be very sexy.  I highly recommend that anyone considering online dating should FIRST read this book before interacting within the online community.

I personally found myself smiling all the way through to the very end and I know you will too.

Doreen DeAguila - CEO - SaferDates.com

Love Sex Lies and the Internet mouse “trap” is witty, insightful, playful and clever.  Yvonne Rice explores dating full circle.  You’ll travel back in time as she defines the past couple decades of transformation between the sexes and I guarantee you’ll feel nostalgic at times.  She’ll guide you through the technological advances in dating and offer expert advice on how to properly utilize an online dating service.  Plus she exposes the dark side of the Internet by exploring the scams, rip-off artists and sexual predators that target the online dating industry.  A relevant read for amateur daters and divorcees ready to take the plunge into the sea of online dating!

Jessica Walker - Safer in the City columnist for SaferDates.com/blog

Mar 03, 2009

Millions of people of all ages have tried Internet dating services as a way to meet new friends and possibly find a lifelong partner. It’s a great way to get acquainted with people you would never have met otherwise. When done with caution, online dating may even be safer than meeting people in the “real” world because you have more time to get to know someone before meeting him or her in person.

Dating online requires you take steps to protect yourself. The first rule of thumb is to trust your instincts when interacting with a potential date. Select your online dating service carefully. Look for an established, popular site with plenty of members and a philosophy that matches your own.

Here are some other safety tips.

1. Maintain anonymity to protect your identity. Don’t include your full name, phone number, where you work, or detailed location information in your profile or during early communications with potential dates. Stop communicating with anyone who presses you for this type of information.

2. Use the e-mail system provided by the dating service rather than your own e-mail address to maintain your privacy.

3. Be smart about choosing profile pictures. Make sure your photos reflect what you want to say about yourself. Provocative pictures may attract the wrong people. Make sure that your images do not contain identifying information such as nearby landmarks or a T-shirt with your school or company logo.

4. Check to see if a potential date has a good reputation among other daters on the service.

5. Be realistic. Read the profiles of others with skepticism. As you correspond or talk on the phone, ask questions, seek direct answers, and note any inconsistencies. Look for danger signs such as a display of anger, an attempt to control you, disrespectful comments, or any physically threatening or otherwise unwelcome behavior.

6. If a person becomes abusive, report it and block that person from contacting you again using the dating site settings.

7. When you decide to meet, create a safe environment. Keep first dates short, and agree to meet in a public place during a busy time of day, Make sure somebody knows where you’re going. If your date doesn’t look like his or her photo, walk away and report that person to the dating service.

8. If a date asks you for a loan or any financial information, no matter how sad the hard luck story, it is virtually always a Common e-mail scams and you should report it.

Formal dating sites are not the only places that people meet, and teaching online dating safety is particularly critical to protecting teens. Teens are becoming active online daters from as early as 14 years of age.

Thank you to www.lookbothways.com for providing this valuable information.